As expression goes, April showers bring May flowers. We cannot argue with that. Cambridge and Boston are certainly blooming in May. This is a joyful month to be in the area. It is a month of celebration and a month of transition as spring finally reaches its peak bloom.

The month starts off with one of the most popular events of the year, Mayfair in Harvard Square on May 6th. With an estimated 100,000 people expected to crowd into Harvard Square for this annual event, it will be hard to miss the excitement in the air. With six live performance stages and a variety of craft and food stalls, it would be next to impossible not to find something to capture your attention. Check out http://www.harvardsquare.com/ for more information about Mayfair.

The following weekend, don’t forget to pay extra attention to your mother and all the mothers in your life. Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, May 13th and this will be a busy day for all the restaurants in the area, so if you are planning to treat your mother please remember to plan ahead.

We at Harding House would like to send out a special Mother’s Day wish to our General Manager, Briana, who will be celebrating this year as a mother of two, having just recently added a beautiful baby boy to her family.

If you are looking for a family activity on Mother’s Day, Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum will take place on May 13th. If you are looking for a special treat for your mother, yourself, or anyone else, for that matter, this is a picture perfect way to spend a day. This yearly event is truly a treat for all five scenes. Lilac Sunday is the only day of the year when picnicking is allowed in the arboretum. Plan a day full of music, food and family based activities. For more information visit http://arboretum.harvard.edu/news-events/lilac-sunday/ .

And, of course there will be no shortage of proud mothers (and assorted other family members and friends) in the area this month. A bookend to the academic year, May is the height of gradation season. With roughly fifty colleges and universities within fifty miles of Boston, you will be hard pressed to find a day between the middle of May and the beginning of June that is not a gradation date for one of the institutes of higher learning in the area. We, at Harding House, would like to congratulate all of the recent and soon to be graduates in the area. On a personal note, I would like to congratulate my nieces- Katelyn graduating from Babson College and her sister, Sarah, graduating from Dedham High School. So happy for both of you!

Rather you a proud mother, proud graduate or just a person trying to get through the crowd, we at Harding House wish you all a wonderful May.